Sunday, June 1, 2014

Come Grow with Me! My Black Thumb

I have a black thumb. I've killed just about everything I've ever tried to grow. Good thing I don't have kids. Growing kids is probably hard.

My best friend and neighbor showed me the vegetable garden she planted a few weeks ago in her back yard and it looked so awesome that I wanted to try to grow one of my own! I had visions of picking tomatoes off of thriving vines and making salads right from my own garden! If she could do it, then I could too, right? Why not?

It's been a few years since I've tried, so I just felt like I needed to give it a shot and see if my thumb was still black. I have fond memories of my mother tending a vegetable garden in the back yard of our Pittsburgh home when I was growing up. This was something I wanted to do! Hubby is always down for a home project, so we were off to Home Depot to get inspired.

Hubby is in charge of pushing the cart.

We ended up choosing tomatoes, even though the guy told us we were a little late in the season for tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, and jalapenos.

We were feeling pretty good about our selections and I sent a text to my friend about it on the car ride home.

No wonder I kill everything. All of a sudden, I was feeling a little bit in over my head. But Ollie is clearly excited, so we forged forward with our plans.

Our house was built in the 50s, it has either an old well that has been filled in, or a faux well (we're not sure which one) in the back yard. Basically, it is a brick enclosure that we use for a fire pit in the cooler seasons. We decided to dig it out and turn it into our summer vegetable garden.

Ollie is just rolling with excitement!

I am excited about my first real vegetable garden. Let's hope something grows and my black thumb will turn green. Any tips from experienced gardeners for a newbie like me? Have you ever tried to grow a vegetable garden?

Tried to grow a vegetable garden 3 years in a row, but my squash wouldn't have sex. Big beautiful plants, but not one damn zucchini or yellow squash. Now I just got to the Farmers market and pretend I grew it!